the
sill with his front paws, got his rear paws planted on the sill behind
them, and leaped up and outward.
There was no time to wonder what would happen if he had made a
mistake in the pattern. Fortunately, he hadn't. His jump took him
sailing cleanly through a gap in the artificial hailstorm and landed
him on top of the low parapet around the edge of the roof.
The popcorn machine had been set up near the center of the roof,
spitting its deadly dispatches toward and over the edges. As Draycos
had expected, there was no one tending it. Staying low beneath the
stream of bombs, he sprinted across the roof.
This particular machine was slightly different from the one that
had been shown in Jack's manual. But it was similar enough. Two quick
slashes through the power and control cables, and the rain of bombs
stopped.
Beside the machine was a trap door leading down into the building.
Prying open the popcorn machine's magazine, he pulled out two of the
small bombs. Then, ready to toss them in if necessary, he pulled the
trap door open a crack.
He flicked his tongue into the gap. There was an alien tang in the
air, almost buried beneath the taste of the explosive powder of the
guns. The taste of Parprin was there, too, but faint and stale, plus
the stronger scent of a human. Neither the human nor alien scents
seemed to be nearby.
He lifted the trap door the rest of the way up. Below was a narrow
stairway leading down to a door that had been propped open. No one was
visible, and the enemy did not seem to have set any alarms or booby
traps. Tucking his two popcorn bombs out of the way beneath his
forearms, he headed down.
The open door below led into the center of a corridor lined with
ten doors. Apartments, he decided, or possibly private offices.
Silently, he prowled down the hallway, listening and tasting at each
door.
At the second and fourth doors to the left, on the side facing the
street, he found the enemy.
He took a moment to lay the two bombs on the hallway floor by the
fourth door, where the door would strike them if it was opened
carelessly. Then, returning to the second door, he pulled it open.
The attacker's setup was again something he'd seen in Jack's
manual. At the window sat a slender, long-barreled weapon on a tripod,
angled sharply downward to fire at the street. A belt of ammunition ran
up to it from a small suitcase on the floor.
The gunner himself was of a species Draycos hadn't met before:
short and stocky, with large ears and clumps of feathers poking out of
a mottled red-and-purple skin. His heavy battle vest had a shoulder
patch showing a long, curved sword, and his scent matched the alien
smell Draycos had tasted by the trap door.
He was seated cross-legged in the center of the room, well back
from the window, leaning comfortably against the front corner of a
large desk. With the help of a small video monitor in one hand and a
control stick in the other, he was firing the weapon by remote control.
Foolishly enough, he was sitting with his back to the door.
Perhaps he assumed his large ears would warn him of any intruders.
Draycos didn't give him the chance to correct that error. A single
leap across the room landed him behind the alien. A single slap of his
forepaw bounced the other's head against the desk and sent him
sprawling unconscious onto the floor.
For a moment Draycos crouched beside him, listening to the rhythm
of his breathing. The soldier was alive, but definitely out of the
fight.
One room down. One more room to go, and then he would have done
all he could. He turned back to the door.
And paused as a sudden thought struck him. Perhaps he wasn't quite
finished here yet.
He spent a minute learning how to work the control stick. Then,
manipulating the buttons and wheels delicately with his claws, he
raised the muzzle of the gun to point at the building across the
street. Studying the monitor, he located one of the windows where a
similar gun was firing down into the
sill with his front paws, got his rear paws planted on the sill behind
them, and leaped up and outward.
There was no time to wonder what would happen if he had made a
mistake in the pattern. Fortunately, he hadn't. His jump took him
sailing cleanly through a gap in the artificial hailstorm and landed
him on top of the low parapet around the edge of the roof.
The popcorn machine had been set up near the center of the roof,
spitting its deadly dispatches toward and over the edges. As Draycos
had expected, there was no one tending it. Staying low beneath the
stream of bombs, he sprinted across the roof.
This particular machine was slightly different from the one that
had been shown in Jack's manual. But it was similar enough. Two quick
slashes through the power and control cables, and the rain of bombs
stopped.
Beside the machine was a trap door leading down into the building.
Prying open the popcorn machine's magazine, he pulled out two of the
small bombs. Then, ready to toss them in if necessary, he pulled the
trap door open a crack.
He flicked his tongue into the gap. There was an alien tang in the
air, almost buried beneath the taste of the explosive powder of the
guns. The taste of Parprin was there, too, but faint and stale, plus
the stronger scent of a human. Neither the human nor alien scents
seemed to be nearby.
He lifted the trap door the rest of the way up. Below was a narrow
stairway leading down to a door that had been propped open. No one was
visible, and the enemy did not seem to have set any alarms or booby
traps. Tucking his two popcorn bombs out of the way beneath his
forearms, he headed down.
The open door below led into the center of a corridor lined with
ten doors. Apartments, he decided, or possibly private offices.
Silently, he prowled down the hallway, listening and tasting at each
door.
At the second and fourth doors to the left, on the side facing the
street, he found the enemy.
He took a moment to lay the two bombs on the hallway floor by the
fourth door, where the door would strike them if it was opened
carelessly. Then, returning to the second door, he pulled it open.
The attacker's setup was again something he'd seen in Jack's
manual. At the window sat a slender, long-barreled weapon on a tripod,
angled sharply downward to fire at the street. A belt of ammunition ran
up to it from a small suitcase on the floor.
The gunner himself was of a species Draycos hadn't met before:
short and stocky, with large ears and clumps of feathers poking out of
a mottled red-and-purple skin. His heavy battle vest had a shoulder
patch showing a long, curved sword, and his scent matched the alien
smell Draycos had tasted by the trap door.
He was seated cross-legged in the center of the room, well back
from the window, leaning comfortably against the front corner of a
large desk. With the help of a small video monitor in one hand and a
control stick in the other, he was firing the weapon by remote control.
Foolishly enough, he was sitting with his back to the door.
Perhaps he assumed his large ears would warn him of any intruders.
Draycos didn't give him the chance to correct that error. A single
leap across the room landed him behind the alien. A single slap of his
forepaw bounced the other's head against the desk and sent him
sprawling unconscious onto the floor.
For a moment Draycos crouched beside him, listening to the rhythm
of his breathing. The soldier was alive, but definitely out of the
fight.
One room down. One more room to go, and then he would have done
all he could. He turned back to the door.
And paused as a sudden thought struck him. Perhaps he wasn't quite
finished here yet.
He spent a minute learning how to work the control stick. Then,
manipulating the buttons and wheels delicately with his claws, he
raised the muzzle of the gun to point at the building across the
street. Studying the monitor, he located one of the windows where a
similar gun was firing down into the
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